There may not be such a thing as a free lunch but there are free things in life. To find some of them locally, become a member of Freecycle.org and find places to give away your stuff or to get some stuff.

Items recently listed on the site included a baby changing table, cat food and a small washing machine. Items people were looking for were a stroller, a microwave and a bag of infant girl’s clothing.

Leah Long of Temecula, along with her husband, Jay, are the moderators for the Temecula branch of the World Wide Web organization.

It’s something Leah Long does in her free time. "It can be an all-consuming monster sometimes when I don’t have other moderators," she said in a phone interview.

The site is free to join. The point of the site is to connect people who need items or want to give away items to keep them out of landfills. It is not a site to collect items for resale.

The Temecula site has been active since 2005. There are more than Advertisement
1,600 members.

"We’ve got folks from Lake Elsinore, Hemet, Fallbrook, Temecula and Murrieta," Long said. "We even have a couple of members from Camp Pendleton."

To join, moderators ask for a simple statement that shows perspective members understand what the site is all about. Once they have joined, members can post wanted listings for things needed, offered listings and hopefully taken and received listings when transactions are complete.

The worldwide Freecycle organization sets the few guidelines.

"We discourage people collecting things and just ask that people be honest," Long said. "We also discourage sob stories. Just say, ‘This is what I want. If you have it, great.’ You don’t need to talk about your six naked children, your husband left you and the dog has been run over."

Long will edit listings so they fit within the guidelines. She doesn’t want people taking advantage by making things up.

She uses the site herself. "I offer stuff all the time. I’m trying to de-junk," she joked.

To find out more, visit www.freecycle.org and search for the Temecula group.